Recent Articles

epicureandculture.com
—
As a New Yorker, I’m all about discovering local weekend getaways to escape the city. The thing is, my mind seems to automatically go to upstate New York, despite the fact that Connecticut is so close. Actually, closer than my usual Catskills retreat, I learned, after taking the 40-minute train ride from Harlem-125th St Station in Manhattan to visit Norwalk. If you’re wondering where to go in Connecticut, this hip city should definitely be on your radar.

epicureandculture.com
—
While people have been distilling alcohol for hundreds of years, the industry is constantly evolving. Lately, more females have been taking leadership roles in founding forward-thinking distilleries that push the boundaries of spirit-making. From establishing distilleries in unusual places — like caves and high mountain tops — to using spirits to promote important initiatives, the following eight women deserve a spot on your radar.

epicureandculture.com
—
Tana Toraja is a region of South Sulawesi in Indonesia, a picturesque mountainous region that is home to an indigenous group known as the Torajans. For the Torajans, the most important thing about life is death; and because of this, they have established some of the most unique and complex burial rituals in the world, which continue to be practiced today.

epicureandculture.com
—
Visiting Cambodia? It’s likely you’ll be making a stop in Siem Reap to visit Angkor Wat, an ornate temple complex built in the first half of the 12th century, dedicated to the Hindu god, Vishnu. During my trip to see this world wonder I not only discovered the spiritual side of the country, but also a small education project dedicated to improving the lives — and futures — of local children. But first, a stop at Angkor Wat.

epicureandculture.com
—
The Chinese Fried Breadstick, or youtiao in Chinese, is the MVP of Chinese breakfast. Besides the fact that it tastes amazing, it might be the most versatile item served for breakfast in Chinese restaurants. Yes, you read that right. This ain’t no Olive Garden breakstick. Here’s the skinny (or not so skinny, depending on how you look at it). The breadstick is a long golden-brown deep-fried strip of dough that originated in China, and is eaten in many other East and Southeast Asian cuisines.

epicureandculture.com
—
When the taxi driver at the Nicaragua-Costa Rica border knew exactly where Casa Oro was, I took that as a good sign; I was not the first person to head there. An hour later, after winding through some Nicaraguan hills, the taxi pulled up in front of a large, multi-level building in the center of town. Casa Oro, meaning Gold House, is a hostel, bar, restaurant and surf shop just minutes from the beach in San Juan del Sur, a coastal town on Nicaragua‘s southwest coast.

epicureandculture.com
—
Ask anybody about Kuwait and they will mention two things: the Gulf Wars & oil reserves. Amidst the sprawling malls and grand souks, it’s hard to remember that early Kuwaitis subsisted on date plantations, camel rearing, fishing and pearl diving. For those who may not know, Kuwait is a tiny desert nation perched on the tip of the Persian Gulf. With a long coastline, Kuwait is strategically placed for pearl diving.

epicureandculture.com
—
Overtourism may sound like the definition of a first-world problem — long lines for cold-brew coffee, too many tourists at the Sagrada Familia to get that perfect selfie — but in reality, it negatively impacts local people and our planet. Travelers can help combat this problem by not merely thinking in terms of “where to avoid the trend seekers,” but by understanding the challenges facing sustainable tourism and through smart, inspired actions.

epicureandculture.com
—
There are many great reasons to visit Turkey: unique landscapes, stunning seascapes, evidence of thousands of years’ old history and friendly people. Weeks could be spent here touring the various regions and visiting some of the world’s most important historical sites. Another thing to prioritize on your visit? Food in Turkey. It’s flavorful, delicious and possibly even some of the best food you will ever taste. Be sure to add these six culinary stops to your Turkey itinerary.

epicureandculture.com
—
How To Make A Positive Impact Through Hostelling In The USAHave you ever wanted to expand your adventures in a new city beyond sightseeing to really connect with the local community? One possibility to enhance your travels is volunteering while traveling (as long as you volunteer abroad ethically, of course). One way to infuse volunteering into your stay is by booking accommodations with one of Hostelling International USA’s (HI USA)’s many hostels located throughout the United States.

Selecting a term

Phrases (e.g. "cloud computing") — use quotes to keep the terms together

Twitter handles (e.g. @username) — returns those who have mentioned or replied to
given user

Names (e.g. "David Pogue")

Hashtags (e.g. #sxsw, #london2012)

Bio details (e.g. vegan, Olympics, father)

Advanced terms

Muck Rack's Advanced Search allows for many boolean operators.

AND

Find results that mention multiple specified terms, use AND or
+. For example, ensure each result contains both Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg by
searching Musk AND Zuckerberg or Musk + Zuckerberg.

OR

Use the operators OR or , to broaden your search when you'd like either of
multiple terms to appear in results. (This is the default behavior of our search when no operators
are used). For example, results will contain either cake or cookie by searching cake OR cookie or cake,cookie

NOT

Use NOT or - to subtract results from your search. For
example, searching Disney will yield results about the Walt Disney Company as well as Walt Disney
World Resort. To exclude mentions of Disney World, search for Disney -World or Disney
NOT World.

Phrases

When using one of these operators with a phrase, enclose it in quotation marks. For example, you can
find results about smartphones excluding Apple's iPhone 4S by searching smartphone -"iPhone
4s".

Exact case matching or punctuation

If you're searching for a brand name or keyword that relies on specific punctuation marks or capitalization, you can
find results that match your exact query by adding matchcase: before the keyword you're searching for, like matchcase:E*TRADE .

Combining operators

Use parentheses to separate multiple
boolean phrases. For example, to find journalists talking about having fun in Disney World or
Disneyland, search for ("disney world" OR disneyland) AND fun.

Asterisk

An asterisk can be used to search for any variation of a root word truncated by the asterisk. For example, searching for admin* will return results for administrator, administration, administer, administered, etc.

Near

A near operator is an AND operator where you can control the distance between the words. You can vary the distance the near operation uses by adding a forward slash and number (between 0-99) such as strawberries NEAR/10 "whipped cream", which means the strawberries must exist within 10 words of "whipped cream".